Christmas from the Old World

Sunday, December 22, 2013

On this week's episode of the Choral Mix, Kent Tritle takes you on a musical tour through the very Old World, with stops in medieval Hungary, Germany, Italy and more. We hear anonymous works that have echoed through the ages, as well as pioneering choral masterworks from Palestrina, Praetorious and Tallis.

Some of the best Christmas music comes from Europe in the medieval age and the Renaissance. Though you may never hear it piped into shopping malls starting right after Thanksgiving, the music from hundreds of years ago remains an open invitation to quiet the soul and still the mind.

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Comments [2]

Ken Suetterlin
from Marshalltown, Iowa

Thanks, Kent, for such delicious music. Perfect to accompany the 5" of snow we got this weekend, and to end my own Advent sequence. WQXR feeds into my computer with a clarity that makes listening a pleasure. Blessings to you from me and all your colleagues in Iowa! Pax! Ken.

The ancient chants with their serenity and purity are perfect for a rainy Sunday morning before Christmas. A chance to meditate on and capture the true spirit of the holiday -- before all heck breaks loose next week.